Ana's Knighthood
by Charisma Jo
Summary: A story like the alanna series. a girl has to hide her sex from everyone else at the palace, to hide from her family. R/R puh-lease!!
1. Prologue

Ana's Knighthood  
** Okay, I wrote this after music class, so I had musical names in my head. I think they sound funky anyway.**  
  
PROLOGUE  
  
Nadia Maestro was a young mother, only 35, of 5 children: Melody, Harmony, Decrescendo, Crescendo and little Anacrusis.   
Melody is the eldest; she had long brown hair with soft waves passed her shoulders. She was almost 17, and had the most beautiful voice ever.   
Harmony is 16, with deep brown eyes and long, very dark, brown hair. It is almost perfectly straight, with a little wave. She has a remarkable talent for playing the piano. When her fingers move across the keys, its like an angel passes over you.   
The twins, Crescendo and Decrescendo, are nearly 15. Crescendo, has long hair, a lighter shade of brown than the others, Decrescendo has the same hair as his sister, but he cut his short (duh, is you were a guy, would you keep your hair very long??) and had it cropped by his ears. They both had the bluest eyes. When they played the flute together, it sounds like many blue birds, all singing the same tune in different keys.   
When all four of them play/sing together, it is the most beautiful thing you've ever heard. They each have the same passion for music as their mother did.   
Little Anacrusis is 14, and has no passion for anything musical. She often dreamed about knighthood, and adventuring. She dreamed of meeting the famous Lioness, and the brave Keladry, who was following in her hero's footsteps. She also looked very different from her siblings. Her hair was so blonde it was almost white, and her eyes were brown, like the others, but had green flecks here and there in them. Her father had blue eyes, and her mother had brown ones, so no one knew where the green came from.   
Neighbors think that her mother had cheated on her father, but she swears it's untrue. She says that little Ana is just blessed with fascinating eyes.  
Ana took after her father much more than any of the others. Her father was a knight of the realm, and died serving his King in a very bloody battle when Ana was only 7. She longed to follow in her father's footsteps, but her mother wouldn't let her, she wants Ana to be a musician like everyone else. So Ana put her dreams aside, and learned to sing well and play the piano. Her mother taught her all the proper lady things, for traveling to other cities and realms, and she traveled a lot since her father's death. Ana never really knew 'home'.  
  
**Tell me, should I continue? It's gonna have Kel and Alanna in it later . . . . It's gonna be set in Corus anyway. It's just a prologue, so if you 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
"Mother!" called Harmony, "Where is my sheet music? I need to pack them, and I don't know where they are!"   
"There on the piano, right where you left them!" answered Nadia. "Please tell everyone to hurry up! I want to be out of here before midday! We have to be at Pirate's Swoop tomorrow morning!"  
Harmony ran upstairs to the room she shared with Ana. "We need to hurry up, are you even packed?" She stared at her younger sister.   
"Wh-what? Packed? Oh, yes. My bags are right there." Ana answered, pointing to 3 bags, neatly folded with her belongings.   
"I don't understand how you can pack so neatly, so quickly." Harmony said in disbelief.   
Ana shrugged, her father had taught her to pack quickly, just like knights' do and she had watched him plenty of times. "Where are we going this time anyway?"   
Harmony was in her closet, throwing out clothes and all her things, "Pardon?" Ana repeated her question. "Oh, um, Pirate's Pit, or something like that."  
"Pirate's Swoop?"  
"Yea that was it."  
"Really?" Ana got up excitedly, "well then I'd better help you pack, else wise, we'll be here until tomorrow." Harmony made a face, but allowed her younger sister to help.  
Ana was the first on her horse and yelling for everyone to hurry up, which was a change since she was usually the last one out, and even then had to be pushed out the door. Her siblings exchanged confused looks, but obeyed her and mounted up.   
"So Ana, why the hurry to leave our last home?" asked her brother, catching up to her trotting mare.   
Ana put on a blank face. "I don't know what you mean, Decrescendo, I was not at all in any hurry" Ana assured him.   
"Then why are you trotting Farecrest so fast?"   
Ana stopped and stared at her brother, menacingly. "I am not going any faster than I usually do, brother, dear, I am not in any hurry to reach Pirate's Swoop, it's just another place. The reason I'm trotting is because Farecrest is a little jumpy today and I wouldn't want the people at Pirate's Swoop to see me as a bad rider." Ana's eyes blazed, telling Decrescendo to shut it. "Any more questions?" He shook his head and rode back to his other sister, the one who didn't have a quick temper.  
Ana glared at him ride away and turned back to the road. If he finds out about Pirate's Swoop, then he'll find out that mother won't let go. He'll tease me for the rest of the trip! Ana grinned a little. No one can stop me from seeing the Lioness, not even Mother. No one can know about my plan to see her either . . . . . Ana glanced back at her mother, she was in the middle of warming up Melody's voice. Ana grinned, and turned to whisper into Farecrest's ear. "You and me will be out of this choir in no time." His ears pricked toward her, as if he wanted to hear what she was planning to do, Ana shook her head and started to whistle.  
  
** Sorry, I think this story will have lots of short chapters. If anyone can think of a nickname for Crescendo or Decrescendo, please tell me it, I have no idea about what to put. Thanks and please Review. ~CJ~**  



	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to Shannon who gave me the nickname for Crescendo, and Decrescendo's nickname is gonna be D.C., just cause their names are so looooooooooooong!! ~CJ~**  
  
Chapter 3  
  
They arrived at the city a few hours after Midday. Ana was ahead of everyone, of course, and was waiting at the inn they were staying at.   
"This is the place, right Ma?" asked Ana, looking at the title.  
Nadia squinted at the sign, "Yes, this is it," and dismounted. Her children did the same, and brought their horses to the stables around the back. Ana took her mother's as Nadia went inside to pay.   
Everyone else had gone inside and only Ana and Melody were left in the stable, when Melody asked, "Ana, are you going to play or sing this time?" Ana stopped what she was doing, "I would much rather you sing, since my voice is getting a little tired."  
Ana looked at her feet and mumbled, "Mama wonallowmetgo."   
"Pardon?"  
Ana looked at her, and lifted her chin a little. "Our Mother won't allow me to go."  
Melody looked puzzled. "Why ever not?"  
"Because the Lioness lives there and she doesn't want me getting any ideas."  
"I see. Your not upset are you? She's doing this for your own good. Mother doesn't want you to begin gallivanting about and getting yourself killed."  
"But I wouldn't get myself killed!" Ana cries. "I would study hard and learn and be just like Papa!"  
Melody's face fell, she had been 10 when her father died. She had the strongest relationship with him. She looked at Ana and replied icily, "You don't want to become a knight, Ana, and it just brings heartache to those you love." Melody walked off, leaving Ana standing with her horse.  
When Ana completed her horse and her mother's, she walked into the Inn. The barmaid told her which room she was in, and gave her a key. Walking past Crescendo's room, she heard the others arguing about her.   
"I'm glad she's not coming," said Cresh, "They always notice her blonde hair, and compliment her on how well she plays or sings, even when she doesn't do either as well as Mel or Harm,"  
"But its just not the same!" argued Harmony, "She needs to be the high part on the piano! When she plays with me, we all sound better."  
"I think it's for her own good," put in Melody, "If she meets the Lioness, she will just want to become a knight even more."  
"But if she doesn't go, she will find a way to meet her anyway," reasoned Decrescendo, "She'll probably run away or something just as drastic."  
Ana grinned a little. DC had the exact right idea. If her family wouldn't let her become what she wanted, then she would have to do it herself. I don't need them she thought, When they return from the castle, they'll find a sad surprise. Ana felt a little sad about what she was going to do, but that was how bad she wanted to follow in her father, and Lady Alanna's, footsteps. She just wanted to be a knight.   



	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
When they left in the morning, Nadia checked up on Ana. Satisfied that she was still asleep, she closed and locked the door from the outside, and left to go to the castle.   
As soon as she heard the horses leave, Ana's eyes popped open. She grinned very slyly and swung her feet around the edge of the bed. Her clothes, or should she say DC's clothes were a little too big, but that didn't matter. Ana checked the window to be sure that they were truly gone. I thought they were smart enough not to leave me here, Ana thought. I guess not. She went to open the door. Oooooo, they locked it! How dare they lock me into my own room! Ana looked around her room. No matter, they forgot about my determination to leave. Ana looked to the ground from the window for any means of escaping her room. A merchant's tent was all that was there. Hmmm, I wonder how sturdy that is . . . . As quick as a fox, Ana was out the window and on the ground. The merchant's tent was a little lopsided now that she jumped onto it, but nothing so serious that he couldn't live without. Ana bowed a mocking thank you to the man, and ran off to fetch Farecrest.   
With her horse and a bag with one change of clothes, a little money and food, Ana rode her horse out of the city and onto the road to Corus, where girls can become knights. Unfortunately for this girl, she will have to disguise herself as a boy, to escape her family's wrath.   
Ana steered Farecrest into the woods and stopped at a river. Now was the time to complete her disguise.   
She took out her belt knife and grabbed a piece of her back-long hair. Closing her eyes, she sliced it, right up to her ears, just like DC's and most of the other boys at the palace. She looked in the river. I just look like Ana with short hair. She grinned and took her very long saved up gift and brought it across her face. She had a great abundance of it, from her mother and her father. Thought she can't change the fact that she is a girl, Ana changed her hair-colour to a sandy blonde, and gave her skin a darker tone. She looked again into the river. A face she couldn't recognize was staring at her. She grinned, satisfied with what she'd done, and got up, brushing herself off. Standing up, she got very dizzy. Drat, I forgot the side-affects. She thought as she collapsed onto the grassy floor.  
  
**Hey, hope you like the next TWO chapters i got up for you!! Please REVIEW!! ~CJ~** 


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, here's the next. Hope u like. Please review. ~CJ~**  
  
Chapter 5  
  
"Is he breathing?" a voice asked. Ana opened her eyes part way. A blurry blob hung over her. She groaned and tried to move. Every part of her body ached. "Are you alright?" asked the voice.  
"Do I look alright to you?" she asked, testily, struggling to sit up. Her eyes were clearer now, and she saw that the voice was coming from a girl that looked around her age. She had cropped brown hair, and looked like she was just getting over a fight: her eye was slightly bruised, and she had one arm in a small sling.  
"Woah, I guess you're awake now." She said. "Do you need a healer?"   
"N-no. I'm fine. Never better." Ana said quickly and to prove it, got up and walked around.  
"Okay," the girl anwered. "My names Kel, by the way."  
Ana stared. "The Kel? The one who's a page at the palace?"  
"Yea, the one and only." Replied Kel. "and you are . .??"  
"Er, I'm a-, my name is, er….." Ana thought for a minute. Namenamenamenamenamenamenamenamename . . . "My name is Andrew . . ." she said quickly, and looked to see is Kel had believed her. The look on her face showed no sign of it. Whew! That was close!!   
"So what are you doing in the middle of the forest, far away from Corus?" teeheehee. I just rhymed.   
Kel looked stunned. "Far away from Corus?" she asked. "Why you're in the forest behind the castle!"   
"I-I am?" she stammered. "But how did that happen? I was just riding down the road away from Pirate's Swoop, and I stopped, and I woke up, and I'm in the forest behind the castle??"   
Kel looked at her as if she was crazy. "Yes," Kel said slowly, then asked "Are you here for a reason?"  
"I am, a, uh new page at the palace. I'm just surprised because I didn't expect to be here so fast."  
Kel nodded, but looked as if she still didn't believe her story fully. "Well, then, shall we go and introduce you to the other boys?"  
Ana nodded. Glad to leave this whole epic behind her. "Where are they?"   
"Oh, just around. We'll go find them."  
Kel led Ana through the forest and down a path, to another stream. "Neal! Roald! Where are all you guys?" she called, and one by one, they all popped out of the woods. "You guys, this is a new page at the castle. Be nice. Andrew of- where are you from?"  
Ohnoohnoohnoohnoohnoohnononononono! Danilwood. That sounds like a fief. . . "I'm from Danilwood. In Tyra?"  
"Oh, this is Andrew of Danilwood." Said Kel out loud. "This is Neal, Roald," Ana bowed to the Crown Prince, a little shakily, since she'd never done it before. Kel grinned. "And Merric, Seaver, Faleron, Cleon, and Esmond." I'm gonna have fun remembering names, Ana mused. "We were just on a break, being as it is Midsummer." Kel told her.  
"Midsummer?" asked Ana. "Bu-but how?" she looked at all their faces. "Oh, of course," she said, unsure. "It just snuck up on me I guess." She began to laugh a little. How did it get to be Midsummer? I did the spell nearly 4 weeks before that! The others looked at her, but after a while, they accepted her and began telling her about a pages life, old stories about each other and the stump.  
"Beware of him when he gets this look in his eyes. It happens when you do something really, really bad, and he finds out." Kel warned. A bell chimed.   
"Time to go back to the castle for lunch." Said Merric, getting up. The others followed, with Kel and 'Andrew' taking up the end.  
Ana breathed a sigh of relief. She had at least made one friend, in Kel, her idol. That was a plus. But she unfortunately had to lie. She hated lieing more than anything. It can't be helped. She told herself. You just need to live with it.   
"Here we are!" Announced Kel. Ana looked around the palace, her new home.  
  
**Well that's the end of that. Please review. I want to hear what you think!! ~CJ~**  



	6. 

**Woah! Its been 4evah! Oookay, im really sorry 4 how long this took!! Now read!!! ~cj~ **  
  
  
Chapter 6  
  
Kel had brought Ana to Lord Wyldon's Office (?) and waited for her outside while Ana talked to him.   
"You're from where?" he asked, sizing 'him' up.  
"Danilwood, sir, in Tyra." She answered, with her hands behind her back.  
He nodded, "Have you brought a serving man for yourself?"  
"No sir."  
He nodded again, "Then one will be assigned to you.   
"Your life here won't be simple, you will be worked and taught until we believe you've tried hard enough. You will be punished for any prank you do, and any privlages will be won 3 times over. On days that your teachers think is fit, you will be given a day to see the city. If we think your ready, you will become a squire in 4 years, then your Ordeal of Knighthood when you are eighteen.   
"You have the gift?" Ana nodded again. "Alrgiht, you will be trained for that also.You need to get yourself measured for clothes, a third or fourth year page will become your sponser until you become familiar to your surroundings. Be prompt outside your door in a bells' time. You are dismissed."  
Ana bowed, awkwardly, and walked out of the room. She looked at Kel. "Woah. That was . . ." she couldn't think of a way to finish her sentence.  
Kel nodded, understanding. "Clothes?" Ana nodded. She steered her down another corridor and brought her to a room, where a lady measured her for her clothes. Ana crossed her fingers, a little worried that she would have to change in front of them, but when all she did was smile, and hand her some clothes, Ana gave a sigh of relief. She carried the clothes up to her room and saw her bag already there. Kel brought it in for her.  
"I'll leave you to your room and unpacking. Be ready when the bell sounds, Our Lord Stump hates it when we're late.  
"Our Lord Stump?" Ana asked, puzzled.  
"Oh, our name for Lord Wyldon, you'll hear it often." Ana grinned.  
"Thanks Kel, for you help."  
Ana looked around her room. Wow. This is great. She sat down on her bed and looked at her bag. The only bag she had. The one that only has a few coins, 1 change of clothes and a few bread crumbs from her trip. Oh Well, she thought, At least I'm away from Mother and everyone.   
She grinned and went to change into her clothes. She stared at her reflection: a gold tunic over a white shirt, and royal blue breaches, her now short sandy- blonde hair and brown-green eyes were accented by her darker skin tone. "I think I would even fool my father," she thought out loud.  
"Not quite." Said a ghostly voice behind her. Ana recognized it immidietaly, but was afraid to turn around. "Papa??" she whispered.   
"Yes, sweetie, it's me. Turn arund so I can see you."   
Ana turned slowly, and looked at the person behind her. "Papa?? It's really you??" The man nodded. He was tall, and had blonde hair, almost as light as Ana's original hair colour, and had blue eyes.   
"I was waiting for you to follow in my footsteps, I was almost worried you wouldn't come,"  
"B-but how are you here, you d-die, you died 7 years ago. What are you doing here??"  
"Oh, little Ana, I'm not really here. When I died, I was stopped by Mithros himself and was asked to become a lesser God, to serve and protect the lesser Gods in the other realm. I was in no position to refuse, and besides, they told me I would be able to visit my family again."  
Tears were brimming in Ana's eyes. "Oh papa!" she yelled and ran to hug him. "I missed you so much!!" she looked into his eyes, "You-you brought me here, on Midsummers' didn't you?? It would have taken me that long to get here if I had ridden Farecrest." She accused.  
"Yes, it was me. I hope you don't mind."  
"Oh, of course not!!" and squeezed harder. "I was just a little surprised, that's all. I-" Ana was interrupted by the bell. "I have to go, papa. Visit me soon?" She looked into his eyes.  
"Of course, sweetling. I'll visit you soon, tonight, I'll say goodbye." He disappeared and Ana wiped tears away from her eyes. She straightened up and shook her head to clear it. Opening the door, she entered the world of pages and boys. . . . . . .  
  
**Well, watcha think? Tell me in the iddy bitty box down there, or email me at sun_moon_star99@hotmail.com!! Thanks and more will be up soon!! ~CJ~**  



End file.
